Welcome to the Eastern Region Textile Website

Welcome to the Eastern Region Textile Forum website. ERTF is a non-profit making, voluntary organisation which aims to provide a dynamic, active network where Textile Artists of all disciplines can create, exhibit, educate and improve their own practice, and collaborate to promote their own art-form. In short, ERTF aims to take textiles forward into the mainstream of 21st century art.

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7 October 2017 - Structures and Textures - Godmanchester

Speaker: Michael Brennand-Wood: “Pretty Deadly”

Michael Brennand-Wood is a visual artist, curator, lecturer and arts consultant. He is nationally and internationally regarded as one of the most innovative and inspiring artists working in textiles, and has occupied a central position in the research, origination and advocacy of Contemporary International Art Textiles. He has persistently worked within contested areas of visual practice, embroidery, pattern, lace, ornamentation, conflict and floral imagery. Sites, which offer unbroken traditions, cross cultural interventions and a freedom to work outside the mainstream. He believes that the most innovative contemporary textiles come from an assured understanding of both textile technique and history.

The title of this talk relates to a concept he uses. Not dissimilar to a Venus flytrap, he works on images that entice and then reveal a deeper, perhaps darker message. It was born out of the response of people saying something was ‘pretty’ simply because it used colour or pattern.

Her new book is 'Textile Nature' about the many connections between textile art and the natural world for Batsford Books. Its launch at the Knitting and Stitching Shows in London, Harrogate and Dublin in 2016.

Kaleidoscope: 25 March – 22 April 2018 – Cambridge - is our next exhibition in which the entries will be reviewed and chosen by a selection panel.

“Kaleidoscope 2018” will be held at Michaelhouse, St Michael’s Church, Trinity Street, Cambridge CB2 1SU. It is located in the oldest part of Cambridge and has easy access for wheelchairs and buggies and is home to an award-winning café serving dishes created from local produce. It is beautiful setting and hosts exhibitions of many kinds. The footfall is high, some 2,000 per week, and will require no stewarding.

There will be an afternoon needle-felting workshop led by Annie Brown and Private View (members only and invited guests) from 6.30 – 8.30 pm on Wednesday 11 April.

Saffron Walden Museum Exhibition:

6th October 2018 - 3rd February 2019 - Essex - This is our up and coming non-selected exhibition where we would hope to include all submissions.

This is a site-specific exhibition for our members. The work will be displayed for four months.

Saffron Walden Museum is one of the oldest in Britain, founded in 1835. It has an unusually rich and varied collection of natural history, ancient Egypt, North American, archaeology, local history, ceramics, glass, wood and textiles from around the globe (over 170,000 objects).